The real version of this Mercedes is going to auction, and it is going to go high. Thankfully there is a Hot Wheels version easier to get...

Yes, one of only 100 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG is heading to auction this month in the UK. The car is a legend. Race specs but street legal, and there isn't an outdated bone on its body. It looks as good as any car released today. I want it. I want it bad.

So I checked the sofas for change, broke my kid's piggy bank, and might have snagged a $20 from my wife's purse. My hope is $27.43 will get me this car, but experts are telling me otherwise. I told them I might be able to add a $5, but they are still skeptical.

Thankfully, if I don't win it, I can fall back on the fabulous Hot Wheels version. Hot Wheels released the CLK DTM back in 2006, and it has been in my collection ever since. I should say, the 2006 release has. Subsequent releases haven't come close to the five versions of the First Edition, so I just kept them. With the Mercedes license back at Mattel, I hold out hope that we see this one again, but who knows if a tool can survive that long without being used. If we don't see it again, I am still more than happy to have the versions I have.

Hot Wheels initially released the CLK DTM in black with silver racing stripes, similar to the actual racing version. They recolored it in metallic grey, also with racing stripes, and then in the grey again without stripes. They also released Faster Than Ever versions of both the grey racing and grey street releases. No subsequent versions looked nearly as good as these do, especially with the headlight tampos and black spoiler. Just look at how many versions we got of that 2006 release:

It was cool to see Hot Wheels go all out on the releases. The non-stripe version closest resembles the street version, and looks great with the other two racing liveries. And the casting itself is fabulous. It is large, it sits low, and has great details like the chrome grill, side mirrors, and plastic spoiler. The chrome grill was so important that it meant the interior would be chrome as well, which might bother some, but doesn't bother me. Especially since it means chrome exhausts as well.

So yeah, maybe I don't get the actual car. Whoever does will be supremely jealous of my five versions though.

7 comments:

People will complain about the chrome interior, but I don't care. This was a great casting.

Some subsequent releases were really nice, however. Really, only the brown one was blah. But there was a great red and black one from 2007, a silver and gray one (nice subtle two tone) also from 2007, and a race deco one from 2009 that were very nice. The two from 2008 leave some to be desired.

I must have gotten a really bad print on the headlamps of my copy (a la Focus RS), because I couldn't look at its face and really see a CLK Mercedes. I scraped it off and am just as happy with the face looking proportionate.